Slowing growth and increased geopolitical tension - that's how Finland can expect to be affected by Trump's presidency

At the moment we are all probably wondering whether Trump will try to make reality of all his election promises or not, and, if so, how well he will succeed.

One worry that has been debated widely is that if he gets the US on a path of increased protectionism that would be a huge blow to small export countries such as Finland.

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“One thing is clear, an increased protectionism in the US, will very likely spread to the rest of the world,” Penna Urrila, Chief Economic Policy Adviser at Confederation of Finnish Industries EK says to Yle.

Finland has recently started to see a slow growth rate and the election results come at a bad time.

“Export to the US has developed quite well lately. A downturn in actual export as well as a general downturn in the world economy is harmful to Finland. It could decrease at least parts of our expected growth”, Urrila says.

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Since Trump seems to be positively inclined towards Russia, the security of Finland is another area of worry. According to Helsingin Sanomat, Trump has spoken about Russia’s activities in Ukraine in positive terms, as well as about President Vladimir Putin in general. He has also expressed that he would not necessarily meddle or protect Baltic Nato countries against Russia.

Finland’s Foreign Secretary Timo Soini does not believe that Trumps presidency will change the relationship between the two countries noticeably, however. “There will probably be indirect effects, and bigger ones with delay. The largest impact will probably be within trading politics,” Soini says.

Finland’s president Sauli Niinistö admits that he had expected Clinton to win. “The surprise kept me awake... Congratulations to winner Trump”, he writes on Twitter.

The Finnish leadership is focusing on keeping a good relationship with the US.

”We will start building a relationship with the new administration straight away,” says Prime Minister Juha Sipilä to Yle. A meeting is already suggested with Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Sipilä says that being a political outsider might be beneficial for Trump. He might have more freedom than those with closer ties to the Republican party, and he might come with surprising solutions that unites the people.